Opening Statement Presentations at International and Aviation

On this final day of classes, I heard opening statement presentations at both the Kyiv International University, and the National Aviation University. At International, we were disappointed again in a very poor attendance, with only two students present on the final day of classes. Both of the students, Iegor Sierov and Helena, presented the opening statement. Later that evening, we had somewhat better attendance at the National Aviation University, where Helen and Marina presented for the Prosecution, and Ira, Katya and Ann for the Defense. Marina won the "Prosecution White Hat Award," and Ira won the "Bob Smith Black Cap Award." My impression of the students at the National Aviation University is very strong. There are a number of very diligent and intelligent young women in this law school who, with proper encouragement, might make very outstanding courtroom advocates.

And thus ends the twenty separate lecture segments of my two-week experience in Kyiv. It has been an absolute delight to work with so many bright and promising young people.

Closing Argument Presentations at the National Aviation University

Ironically, our smallest group of law students at this point in the semester comes from the National Aviation University, with a student population of 35,000. We found upon arrival that the most fluent English speaking students from our class had been invited by the faculty to attend a special program at the U.S. Embassy.

Nevertheless, we proceeded to practice the closing argument with the smaller group in attendance tonight. In order to help them to be better prepared, Olga and I counseled with and helped them with lingering questions and concerns, and then we allowed both the students presenting for the prosecution and the defense to meet together to give mutual support in their final preparations.

The end result exceeded my expectations. We had very good performances from several students, including especially Katya, who is very fluent in English, having been an exchange student in Texas for nine months. Overall I was pleased with the effort, and hope to see the other stronger students return next week to work on opening statements.

. . . with thanks to our American patrons . . .

In my preparations to travel to Ukraine, I brought many small gifts as an incentive reward for the law students I am teaching. These small gifts came from the City of Holladay, the City of Cottonwood Heights, the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office and the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office. These included T'shirts, caps, book bags, commemorative pins, patches, pens, pencils and key chains. Pictured here are Helena and Yeger (with gifts from the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office), Anastasia (with a gift from Holladay City), Irya, Anna and Katya (with a gift from Cottonwood Heights) and Helena (with a gift from the District Attorney).